Spring Break
by MoonlitSummerEvening
Summary: It's spring break and Peyton, Brooke, Lucas, and Jake are off on a camping trip. Please R&R. CHAPTER EIGHT PART 2 UP! Story is finished!
1. Chapter One: Spring Break Plans

Disclaimer: I do not own One Tree Hill or anything related to it… except this fanfic 

This is my second fanfic (my first is under Tru Calling, "All in the Family"). There are switched point of views.

Chapter One: Spring Break Plans

BROOKE P.O.V.

"Oh, I can't wait until school is over and spring break starts! Just one more school day!" I said to Peyton at lunch. But, she was too busy to hear me. She was looking into Jake's eyes, smiling shyly at him. He was doing the same back at her.

I rolled my eyes and stole a fry from Peyton's plate. She looked over at me and growled, scowling at me. I popped the fry in my mouth and raised my eyes. We smiled at each other.

"Hey, I gotta go talk to Coach. I'll see ya later?" Jake stood up and smiled at Peyton.

"Uh-huh," she said and smiled up at him. He bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, then he walked off.

"Did you say something earlier?" Peyton said as she turned to me.

"Uh, yeah! But you were too busy staring into Jake's eyes. Speaking of which, how's it going with you two? Still playing house?" I joked.

Peyton smiled and sighed happily. "Great! And Jenny's so sweet. It's fun having her and Jake stay at my house. I can't believe she's almost a year old!" I nodded, and stole another fry. Peyton glared at me.

"So, what are you girls doing for spring break?" I heard a familiar voice say from behind me.

"Hey, Lucas," Peyton said as Lucas sat down beside me.

"Hey. Where's Jake?" Lucas asked Peyton, smiling slyly. Peyton rolled her eyes. "I don't think I've seen you without him since he's been back." Peyton threw a fry at him, which he caught in his mouth.

"He went to talk to Whitey." I answered for her.

"I see," Lucas said, nodding. "What are you guys going to be doing for spring break next week?" He looked straight at me.

"Well, I was thinking about going on a camping trip with Peyton." I caught Peyton and Lucas exchanging a glance. "What? You don't think I'm an outdoor girl? Well, I just so happen to like camping. But not the mosquitoes, bears, cougars, deer, skunks…" I curled up my top lip. "I think I'm gonna pack extra bug repellent and some of that bear pepper spray." Lucas and Peyton chuckled. "So, will you go with me, please, Peyton?"

She slightly rolled her eyes and smiled. "Of course. But, can I see if Jake can come? I'm sure his parents wouldn't mind watching Jenny for a few days."

I frowned, thinking about how it would be if Jake came to. I would be sitting there, swatting flies, while Jake and Peyton would be making out. "Well…I don't want to be the third wheel with you two."

"Lucas could come to," Peyton suggested, shrugging hopefully at Lucas.

Lucas thought a moment, then said, "Yeah, I guess I could. I want to get out of the house and away from Deb and Dan."

"It's settled, then. Next week, Jake, Lucas, you and I will go camping at Jasper Lake." I said, standing up. "Don't forget to pack you swimming suits! And bug repellent!" I got up and walked to my locker just as the end-of-lunch bell rang.


	2. Chapter Two: Sleepy Jake

Chapter Two: Sleepy Jake

PEYTON P.O.V.

"So, are we still going to go camping on Monday?" Brooke asked me over the phone Friday night. Jake and I were watching a movie while Jenny was sleeping peacefully in my room.

"Uh, yeah. Hold on a sec," I said to Brooke and looked at Jake. I had forgotten to ask him if he wanted to come camping with Brooke, Lucas, and I, and I decided that I better ask now.

"What?" Jake smiled at me and stretched, sneakily putting his left arm around my shoulders.

"Um, I forgot to ask you something… Would you like to go camping with Brooke, Lucas, and I on Monday up at Jasper Lake? Please," I said, giving him puppy dog eyes.

He sighed and smiled, "Sure. But I thought Felix and Brooke were dating?"

"Oh, um, I don't think they are anymore. He, Anna, and their family had to move again. It really sucks, because I thought Anna was pretty cool."

"Hmm," was all the Jake said as he went back to watching the movie, "The Butterfly Effect".

"HELLO?" I heard a mini-Brooke voice scream, and remembered that she was still on the phone.

"Oh, sorry, Brooke. I just asked Jake if he wanted to go with us to Jasper and he said sure." I gave Jake a smile as he looked at me when I had said his name. He smiled sleepily back and yawned.

"Well, next time, don't forget that I'm on the phone! I swear, when you two are around each other, no one else matters!" I laughed at Brooke, thinking that she was just overreacting because I forgot about her.

"I'm serious! Like, Thursday at lunch, I was trying to talk to you, but all you were focusing on was Jake!"

"Brooke… Oh, never mind. I'll call you tomorrow morning before I come over, OK?"

She sighed, "Fine. Bye."

"Bye." She hung up.

"I hope she's not seriously mad at me," I said to Jake, and when I didn't hear him respond to me, I looked over at him and saw that he was asleep.

I laughed and turned off the movie, then put the quilt off the back of the couch on him. He barely opened an eye and smiled tiredly at me.

"Hey," he said groggily.

"Hey. Do you want to go to bed or sleep here tonight?"

"Here," was what he said, and he pulled me down next to him.

I smiled and put some of the covers on me as he snuggled up to me. 'It's so great having him back…' was what I thought as I drifted off to sleep, safe in Jake's arms.


	3. Chapter Three: Mystery Shoe

Chapter Three: Mystery Shoe

LUCAS P.O.V.

"Come on! Make it…" I whispered quietly as I shot the basketball down at the Rivercourt. Unfortunately, I didn't make the shot, and the ball bounced off the rim and then rolled behind me.

I turned around and there was Nathan, holding the ball in his hands. _Oh-oh, here comes trouble,_ I thought to myself as Nathan walked up to me, trying to crush the ball in his hands.

I wouldn't normally think of Nathan as trouble (like I used to), but lately, he had been different since Haley left. It was almost like he went back to the way he used to be (a jerk), but this time, it was a little more profound, deeper (as in a _major_ jerk).

"Hey, Bedroom-stealer," Nathan slurred at me. He staggered as he haphazardly jogged up to the hoop and tried to make a shot. He didn't make it.

I sighed, wishing that I didn't have to deal with him at that moment. "Are you drunk?"

"Yeah, but why would you care?" I started to protest but Nathan turned around and grabbed the front of my shirt. "And don't say you do because if you did care, 'Brother', you wouldn't have moved into my room just so you could be closer to Daddy." He spat right next to my left shoe.

"Look, Nathan, I don't want to start a fight, but I might have to if you don't let go of my shirt," I threatened through clenched teeth. I guess I was feeling a little mean that day, but I had just gotten in another shouting fight with my mom over the phone. She keeps telling (actually, _threatening_) me to move back with her. But, even though Jules ran off because of Dan at her and Keith's wedding, there are still things I want to find out about Dan that I can maybe use in the future. Which, unfortunately, means that I _still _have to live with him.

"Oh you wanna start a fight? Well, I'll have the pleasure of the first hit, then…" Nathan brought up his fist and was about to hit me in the face (which I so would have blocked), but he was suddenly hit in the back of the head with the basketball and fell to the ground, clearly knocked out.

I looked up and didn't see anyone. But, when I turned around, I saw someone running off, darting back and forth between trees. It looked like a girl with long brown hair, and for a minute I thought it was Haley. But whoever it was, they were too far away to tell now.

I sighed, and, after looking around to see if anyone was there, I picked up the blacked out Nathan and heaved him over to the new car that Dan had given me (another bribe that Dan felt the need to give me). I ran back and picked up my basketball, then almost tripped over someone's shoe that had been left in the middle of the court.

_That wasn't there just a minute ago…?_ I was confused. _Maybe I just didn't see it_, I decided as I shifted my basketball to my right hip and bent down to pick the shoe up.

It was definitely a girl's tennis shoe. "It must have been that girl that I just saw…" I walked over to my car, holding the shoe out in front of me and inspected it. "Whatever," I shrugged my shoulders and got in, throwing the shoe and ball in the backseat.

I looked over at Nathan, who appeared to be somewhat in with it, but was just sleeping now. _Weird…I never knew you could get knocked out from a hit to the head with a half-flat basketball_. I thought as I turned on the car. _At least I won't have to deal with him for the next couple days._  
I sighed as I drove to Nathan's apartment to drop him off (Once I had brought him upstairs, he attempted to hit me again but with no success. "What are trying to do? Mowlwest me?" he had slurred). After that was done, I thought about calling Brooke to see what time I should be at her house to get ready to go camping. But, as I drove passed the post office, I saw Brooke walking on the sidewalk, alone.

I slowed down and pulled over to the curb. She smiled and walked over to my car, as I rolled down the passenger window by pressing a button.

"Hey! How are you?" Brooke flashed her beautiful smile at me.

I grinned back at her. "Good. You want a ride?" She nodded and got in.

She sighed and said, "So, are you totally happy about leaving tomorrow for four fun-filled wilderness days?" She clicked her seatbelt and I pulled back onto the road.

I chuckled and said, "Actually, I am. I just had to deal with a drunk Nathan, who tried to hit me twice. He accused me of being a 'bedroom stealer' and then a 'mowlwest'-er."

Brooke laughed. "A what?"

"I think he was trying to call me a molester, but it came out slurred."

She nodded, saying, "So, he's still not over Haley leaving then? Drinking a lot?"

I sighed, feeling frustrated. Haley leaving was another thing that had been bugging me, along with my mother, Dan, and Nathan. At least this camping break would be good. For all of us. "Yeah, and I don't think he's going to let up on it."  
"Well, maybe we should do an intervention?" Brooke suggested.

I frowned, shaking my head. "I don't think that would work. I think it would make him more P.O.ed. But this time, at everyone."

She nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"So, do you want to go get a bite to eat?" I changed the subject.

I looked over at Brooke and she looked at me. We both laughed, embarrassed for some reason. "Sure, I'd like that," she said, brushing an invisible piece of hair out of her face.

"Cool," I said as I drove to the nearest fast food place, "Taco Bell".

"Care for some Mexican?" I asked as we laughed.

"Sure," she said, as I pulled up to a parking spot.

As we walked into Taco Bell, Brooke smiled shyly at me and took my hand, and held it all the way until we sat down in a booth with our food. _Now this is how it should be…_ I thought happily.

It seemed that this camping trip was going to be a little more than just s'mores, ghost stories, and swimming in a freezing lake…


	4. Chapter Four: Getting Ready

Chapter Four: Getting Ready

JAKE P.O.V.

"So, are you ready to go?" I asked Peyton as she was dressing Jenny up to take her over to my parent's house.

"Yes I am. Yes I am," she said in a baby-voice to Jenny, who smiled a four-toothed smiled at her. "I think Jenny's getting another tooth!" Peyton said excitedly as she gently stuck her pointer finger into Jenny's mouth. Jenny started to half-suck-half-chew on Peyton's finger. "Ouch!" she laughed.

"Really?" I looked up from my packing and walked over to them. I looked in Jenny's mouth and, sure enough, there was a little bit of white peeking out of her top gum.

"Here, you take her and go put her in the stroller and I'll go mark it on her baby calendar," Peyton said as she handed me Jenny.

The baby calendar had been Peyton's idea. Whenever we discovered something new about Jenny - walking straight for the first time, saying words or running, - we would add it onto the calendar.

"You know, it's such a nice day out. We should push Jenny in her stroller over to Mom and Dad's," I told Peyton as I peeked out the door.

"Ok, then, let's go!" Peyton said as she pushed Jenny in her stroller and out the door. "Could you grab my bag, too, please?" she flashed a smile at me.

"Of course," I said, as I grabbed her light backpack. "Do you have everything?" I asked her, surprised that her pack didn't feel that heavy. I grabbed my duffel bag and heaved it onto my shoulder. It was a _little _bit heavier than hers.

"Yeah," she said as she locked her front door. We walked down the sidewalk to my parents' house, which was conveniently only a couple blocks away. "Why?"

"Well, your bag is so light." I said and smiled at her, liking the way she looking pushing Jenny along in her stroller. It seemed like the sun was shining right on them. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky. It was a great time to go camping.

"Well, it's only four days, so I don't really need that much. Just three pairs of pants, six shirts, and, of course," she blushed. "_Other_ clothing, that I won't mention because of little ears." She patted Jenny on the head. I laughed.

"Jakey!" my mother squealed as she opened the door and ran out to us. "And how's my wonderful granddaughter?" She lifted Jenny out of her stroller.

"Here's her clothes," Peyton handed over Jenny's baby bag.

"Thank you, Peyton." My mother smiled at Peyton uncomfortably. They had met for the first time about a week ago. Mother still didn't understand why I wanted to live with Peyton instead of at her and Dad's house. But, as I explained to her before, they haven't really been around babies for 17 years, since I was one, and I didn't think they really wanted to be around one now.

"So, are you ready to go camping? Can you stay for a while?" I could tell my mother really wanted to stay and chat with me, but Peyton had told Brooke that we would meet her and Lucas at her house at 9:30, and it was almost that time.

"Uh, we'd like to, but we have to go meet our friends, you know, so we can go on our camping trip." I smiled at my mother as she bounced Jenny on her hip.

She tried to hide her disappointment, and said, "OK, then. Do what you kids gotta do. But, have fun, and be safe! Don't worry about Jenny, I have a fun play date planned at the park!" Mother gave me a hard hug and gave Peyton an quick one.

"Bye," Peyton said to my mother. "Bye Jenny!" she cooed at Jenny. Jenny tried to grab for her but Mother held her back.

"Bye, now." She closed the door.

"Well. That was awkward," Peyton said as we walked down my parent's sidewalk and back to her house, so we could take her car. "Here, I can take my bag, now." She grabbed her backpack.

"Thanks," I said, and shifted my slightly heavier bag onto my other shoulder.

We got to Peyton's car, and she tossed me the keys. "You can drive," she smiled sweetly.

"Thanks! Brooke's is just right across town, right?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. I hopped in the driver's seat and turned on the car.

"Yep. Let's go camping!" Peyton and I laughed, and I drove us to Brooke's.

I was definitely looking forward to spending four days with Peyton.


	5. Chapter Five: On the Road

Chapter Five: On the Road

BROOKE P.O.V.

I heard a car that sounded familiar pull up into my driveway. "Peyton and Jake are here!" I called to Lucas, who was in the kitchen packing our food.

"Ok, go tell them to put their stuff in my truck! I'll be out with the coolers soon!" he called back.

"Gotcha!" I ran to the door as Peyton opened it. "Hey guys!" I smiled at her and Jake. I looked at their bags. "Is that all you're bringing?" I thought about my three bags that I was bringing.

"Yeah, why? We're only gone for four days, so we really don't need that much stuff." Jake smiled at me.

"Uh, well, then, I guess I better go unpack some things…" I chuckled and they laughed. I walked over to my smallest bag and decided that I didn't need it. I only had two or three pairs of pants and some shirts in it anyways. I had more clothes in another bag. "I'll just go put this one in my room…" I grabbed it and started up the stairs. Peyton ran up after me.

"Hey, Lucas, how are ya?" I heard Jake ask Lucas in the kitchen.

"So, how's playing house going? Did you find a babysitter for Jenny?" I threw my bag down on my bed and sat down on it. Peyton sat down next to me.

"Yeah, his parents are taking care of her. I don't think his mom likes me that much. It was awkward there, at their house." I nodded knowingly.

"Ok, let's get this show on the road! The coolers and bags are in the back!" Lucas called up. I smiled a big smile at Peyton and she returned one just as big.

ON THE ROAD

"This is gonna be **_so_** much fun! No parents, rules, or school for the next four days!" I was so happy that we were finally going to be camping. The only part I wasn't looking forward to was the…_wildlife_… part of it all.

"Yeah, it is." Peyton smiled at me.

"How much further? Shouldn't it be up here somewhere?" Jake asked.

"Where's the map? I need to see how much farther we are from the turn off to the campground," Lucas said, while focusing on driving. I was sitting next to him, to his right, and to my right was Peyton, and to her right was Jake. We all had managed to squeeze in the front of Lucas's truck. I didn't mind, though, because I was scrunched up against my best friend and my possible crush.

I looked sideways at Lucas. He caught me looking and briefly looked at me, and smiled, then focused back on the road. I blushed, although I don't know why. _I **must **be crushing on him again, _I thought as Peyton handed me the map to give to Lucas.

"Hey, could you find where McPeter's road is on there? It should be close to the road we're on, which is Jefferson," Lucas asked me and nodded at the map.

"Sure." I looked at the map and tried to find McPeter's road. I hadn't had much experience with maps, but I could still kinda read them. "Psst! Peyton, can you help me?" I whispered to her.

"Here, we're right here," she whispered back and pointed to a squiggly line that said "Jefferson" in small letters next to it. "And we want to get to here," she whispered and pointed to another line that said "McPeter's" next to it. "So, we have about…10 more miles until we get there." She smiled at me. "Tell Lucas!" she mouthed.

"Right. Lucas," I said, turning to him. "We have about 10 more minutes-I mean, _miles_ until we get there. To the turn off. McPeter's road." I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Thanks, Brooke," and he looked back at the road.

I rested my head and Peyton's shoulder and said aloud, to no one in particular, "This is going to be a great four days." I sighed and fell asleep.


	6. Chapter Six: At the Campground

AN- Thanks to all my readers and reviewers. If you have any suggestions about what you would like to see in the upcoming chapters, please let me know in your reviews. Also, if you would like me to add spoilers-which I will on this chapter- please let me know. If you don't want spoilers, then this chapter will be the only one that will have them. Thanks again for reading! Also, thanks to Rocker87's suggestion, I will try to make my chapters longer.

Chapter Six: At the Campground

PEYTON P.O.V.

Lucas, Jake, and I all unloaded our stuff out of the back of Lucas's truck while it was parked on the road. While we were unloading, Brooke was deciding on which campsite we should have, walking through the surrounding campsites and contemplating on which one would make _her_ feel the safest. There weren't that many campsites available, because the lake was a very popular campground during spring break.

"I think this one works," Brooke called to us as she waved to us. It was a fairly big campsite; it had enough space for Lucas to park his truck and for our two tents (one for Brooke and I and one for Jake and Lucas- We'd had a vote on the way up on how are sleeping arrangements should go, and Jake and I voted for us sleeping in one tent, Lucas and Brooke in the other. But Brooke and Lucas voted against us, saying that it should be one tent for boys, one for girls. "At least until tomorrow night, maybe…" Brooke had whispered mysteriously to me and winked as we had gotten out of the truck.). The campsite also had a fire pit and a picnic table. There was a little trail off to the right that led down to Jasper Lake.

"Here, Peyton, can you set our tents on the table for now, and Jake, can you grab the bags, and I'll grab the coolers?" Lucas asked Jake and I. We both nodded in agreement.

I took the tents and sat them on the table. Jake came up and sat the bags next to the tents. We smiled shyly at each other. I was still kind of hoping that we could share a tent together, but, like Brooke had said earlier, maybe tomorrow the sleeping arrangements would change.

"Hey, Brooke, do you mind putting up your and Peyton's tent while I put up our tent?" Lucas asked Brooke, who shook her head. I smiled; it was like Lucas was our scout leader and we were his scouts. He seemed to know what he was doing, taking charge and ordering us around. "Jake, can you go find the firewood?" Jake nodded briefly, grabbed the paper bag labeled in pen "firewood", and started on the trail to the lake.

"Peyton! Help!" I laughed at Brooke as her attempt to pitching our tent failed with the stakes coming out of the ground. Brooke obviously had never pitched a tent before. She had even admitted to me the night before that the closest she had ever gotten to _camping_ was when she had to sleep on her aunt's back porch one night when she stayed with her. "My brat of a cousin said that she didn't want to share her room with me, so I had to sleep out on the back porch with her creepy younger brother, Louis, who always smelled like cheese." We had started laughing. "And we had to share a sleeping bag. So, you can see why I haven't gone camping since then."

"Here, Peyton, I got it. You help Jake gather firewood." Lucas ran over to Brooke and she smiled a grateful smile at him. I was glad that he offered to help her because that would give them a chance to be alone for a while and I knew that Brooke wanted that. And, it also gave Jake and I a chance to be alone.

"Do you have the ax?" I asked Jake as I caught up to him on the trail.

"Oh, we're not cutting down trees or anything…We're just gathering up little pieces of wood and sticks-" he picked up a small but thick stick. "-like this one. So, there's no need for an ax," he smiled at me as he handed me the stick.

"Right…" I smiled back. I was just happy to be there with Jake, alone. I put the stick in a paper bag that Jake had to gather the firewood in.

"Shouldn't we also look for s'mores sticks?" I asked him as I picked up a perfect s'mores stick. "This one would be great."

He looked at me and smiled. Then he stopped walking, and I could tell by the way that he was looking at me that he wanted to say something. "Sure…" I put it in the stick in the bag. I hoped that whatever else he was going to say would be about us.

"So…I'm glad you're here because there's something I wanted to talk to you about. Alone." He sat down on a log and I sat next to him.

I hugged the bag of "firewood" and nodded. "Sure. What?" It seemed pretty darn possible that it was going to be about us now, since he wanted to talk while we were _alone_.

"Well…I don't know how to say this or if I should, but Lucas…_really_ likes Brooke." Jake looked at me with pleading eyes that made it obvious he didn't want me telling Brooke.

I found myself a little disappointed that that was what he had wanted to tell me. But, I instantly felt guilty, because this was great! Lucas likes Brooke, and Brooke likes Lucas. I had never been the matchmaker type (that was Brooke), but I wanted to help out a friend. Which is why I frantically whispered a plan that I instantly formed in my head to try to get Brooke and Lucas together.

"Well… I don't know if it's believable, and I don't know if we should get in the middle of this. But…you're sure that Brooke likes Lucas, right?"

I thought back to what she had told me at the rest stop on the way up, how she would do anything to get Lucas to go out with her. "Absolutely."

"Ok, then… I guess it's worth a try." Jake and I finished picking up sticks then headed back to the campsite, ready to perform our plan.

Spoilers: Peyton and Jake set up their plan. Lucas has a dream about the mystery girl he saw at the Rivercourt.


	7. Chapter Seven: I'll See You In My Dreams

**AN- Thanks to all my readers, and since bballchick2404 reviewed and said keep the spoilers, I will have one at the end of this chapter. And if you review and tell me no spoilers, the next chapter will not have them. But, if no one objects, I will continue to add spoilers. And, to answer Rocker87's question, "Did the whole Peyton-Lucas-Brooke drama ever happen?", well, if you mean did Lucas cheat on Brooke with Peyton in my story, yes. I, or should I say _Lucas_, makes a reference to it in this chapter. If you have any suggestions, questions, or comments, please review and say them, I'd love to hear them! **

Chapter Seven: I'll See You in My Dreams

LUCAS P.O.V.

"I was inside, holding up the tent, when Lucas decided to _jump_ on the tent and knock me down!" Jake and Peyton laughed at Brooke's story of our "adventure" putting up the tents later that night. They were sitting on the uncomfortable logs that were surrounding the campfire while I was at the picnic table setting up our "dinner" of s'mores. It was dark out now, and we had a lantern on the table, and with the light from the fire, our campsite was pretty well lit, but still kinda dim. _A perfectly romantic spot,_ I thought to myself.

"Hey, Brooke, can you come help me get the s'mores ingredients ready?" I smiled mischievously at her, as she came up to the table.

"Only if you don't try to pounce on me," she whispered to me and smiled.

I raised my eyebrows, and whispered back, "Well, I won't pounce on you if you play nicely." She laughed and then quieted, and we both looked quickly back at Peyton and Jake, hoping that they didn't notice our flirting. But, they were too busy flirting themselves.

"Do you think they know?" Brooke quietly asked as I handed her the marshmallow bag. She opened it up and I looked back and Jake and Peyton again. Jake was tickling Peyton and she was trying not to laugh.

"Nah, they probably don't." I instantly remembered that I had told Jake that I was falling in love with Brooke again at the rest stop earlier that day. Brooke looked deep in thought, too.

"Well, they're probably going to notice sooner or later. Especially if you keep flirting with me the next couple days." I said and laughed as Brooke threw a marshmallow at me.

"_I'm_ flirting with _you_? Oh, no, it's _you _that's flirting with _me_," Brooke stood with her hands on her hips. I could tell she was trying to be serious and not smile. But, I knew a way to make her laugh.

"Hey, we'll be right back, Jake's going to show me where the bathrooms are," Peyton called as her and Jake grabbed the flashlight and walked down the road to the bathrooms.

When I was sure they were out of earshot, I grabbed Brooke and started to tickle her.

"Lucas! Stop!" she giggled and tried to push me away from her.

"Not until you admit that you _have_ been flirting with me," I told her and continued to tickle her sides.

"Ok! I admit! I have been flirting with you!" I stopped and we stood there looking at each other, then starting laughing.

"Come here," I said in a quiet voice and held out my arms for a hug. Brooke smiled and walked into my arms. "Will you go out with-''  
"JAKE!" Peyton came running up, laughing. Brooke and I instantly backed off of each other.

"What's wrong?" Brooke asked Peyton, and smoothed down her perfect brown hair.

_Brown hair_… I recalled from the Rivercourt that the mysterious girl had brown hair. _No, it couldn't have been Brooke…_

"Oh, Jake and I were playing tag…" Peyton blushed and Jake came running up, flushed in the face.

"Uh-huh. _Riiight_…" Brooke said unconvincingly. "If that's what you kids call it these days…" she teased.

Peyton got a sly look on her face. "What were _you guys_ doing when I came up? It looked like I was interrupting something…?"

Brooke answered before I could. "We were playing tag." Everyone laughed, and I blushed.

"Hey, Lucas, can I talk to you for a minute?" Peyton said, waving her hand behind her so that I'd follow her.

"Sure. What's up?" I asked her once we were walking on the road. I looked back at Brooke and Jake, and they were talking too. _Something must be up_… I thought to myself.

"Uh, I have a favor to ask of you. Would it be ok if Jake slept with me? I mean, I feel like a little baby telling you this, but since Jake's been back, uh," she blushed. "We've been sleeping in the same bed, and, uh, I think that if I slept without him tonight, I might not sleep well. So, I was wondering if you and I could switch sleeping arrangements." Peyton looked really uncomfortable, so I had no reason to disbelieve her.

"Sure, anything to make you feel better." I smiled at her, and she smiled gratefully back at me.

"Thanks," she gave me a quick hug. "And I know that Brooke would feel a lot safer, too, with you sleeping in there." She raised her eyebrows slightly and got kind of a mysterious smile on her face, and for a minute I thought that she was hinting that Brooke liked me. And hey, Brooke had been flirting with me a lot lately, so it could be true. But, then again, Brooke was a flirt, so I shouldn't feel like the special and only guy that she flirted with. (Although I did feel special, because Brooke always made me feel that way when we were alone, even when I was cheating on her with Peyton.) We turned around and walked back to the campsite.

When we got back, Brooke was looking slightly stunned about something, and I saw Jake give Peyton the thumbs up sign. I looked back and forth between them, confused, but their face showed no signs about what was going on between them.

"Who wants some s'mores?" Brooke asked as she handed out the neatly cleaned sticks. "Thanks to Peyton and Jake for finding the sticks." She smiled brightly at them.

Peyton and Jake walked over to the fire and held their marshmallows-on-a-stick over the fire. Brooke handed me my stick and asked me "One or two?" and held the bag of marshmallows towards me.

"Two, please. How many do you want?" I grabbed a handful out of the bag. She laughed and grabbed two.

I shrugged my shoulders and said, "More for me!" and stuffed the other three marshmallows in my mouth.

There we were, four friends sitting around a fire, roasting marshmallows. It was the perfect camping trip.

I heard a vehicle on the road and we all looked. It was a big truck, with a camper on the back. They pulled into a campsite that was about five campsites away, to the left of us.

"Looks like we've got neighbors." Jake commented. Then, leaning towards Peyton, he whispered in her ear (but loud enough for Brooke and I to hear), "Let's hope we don't keep them up all night!" Peyton got a surprised look on her face and swatted Jake on the arm. This caused him to drop his s'mores on the ground.

"Peyton! Go make me another one!" he pouted. "It's all you fault that it dropped." He crossed his arms across his chest and sat there, pouting like a little kid.

We chuckled and Peyton got up and walked over to the table. Jake jumped up, saying, "Here, I'll help."

Brooke and I exchanged a look when we heard Peyton and Jake laughing at the table.

"So, I guess we're sharing a tent tonight," Brooke smiled at me.

"Yeah. I guess so." I smiled back.

"Hey, you guys, we're going to hit the sack early," Peyton said about twenty minutes later. I was feeling sleepy myself, and full, after eating four s'mores.

"Yeah," Jake stifled a yawn, and he and Peyton walked hand in hand to their tent.

Brooke and I sat there at the fire in awkward silence. Brooke was examining her knee while I was looking up at the stars. I could tell she didn't know what to do now, with Jake and Peyton in the tent and us alone by the fire.

I stood up and immediately Brooke did too. "Uh, do you want to go take a walk down to the lake with me?"

Brooke shivered and rubbed her arms. "Actually, I wanted to go to bed, too. Sorry, but maybe tomorrow we could take a hike or something?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired too." I yawned. I grabbed the flashlight and looked at my watch. "It's eleven already."

"Wow," Brooke commented, and covered her mouth as she yawned.

Brooke and I walked to the tent. "Ladies first," I said as I held the tent flap open.

"Thanks." She walked in and sat down on her sleeping bag.

I noticed that my sleeping bag wasn't in there; Peyton's was. "Shoot, I wonder if they're asleep yet…" I said and shined the light on Peyton's bag. _P. Sawyer _was sewed on the side of it in lime green letters.

Brooke shrugged. "I wouldn't bother them, though…" We laughed quietly. "If you want, I can give you my sleeping bag. I mean, I borrowed it from my dad, so it's a guys sleeping bag."

"Sure, thanks, Brooke." We exchanged sleeping bags and snuggled down in them.

"Night, Lucas," Brooke said softly. I could tell she was on the edge of sleep. I was kind of disappointed that she didn't want to talk or anything. _There's always tomorrow_.

"Night, Brooke," I said, but I could hear her softly snoring.

I sighed and promptly fell asleep.

XX XX XX XX XX XX XX XX LUCAS' DREAM XX XX XX XX XX XX XX X

**"Lucas…! Lucas…!" I hear someone calling my name. I look around at Brooke, Peyton, and Jake sitting around the campfire. "LUCAS!" They don't seem to hear the voice calling frantically to me.**

**I somehow recognize the voice belonging to the mysterious girl from the Rivercourt. "Courtney?" I call out, although I'm not sure who Courtney is. I assume that the Rivercourt girl is Courtney.**

**"LUCAS! Help! I'm drowning!" I hear Courtney call from the lake. I get an image of her struggling in the water, and suddenly I'm at the lake's edge, seeing my vision being played out in front of me, and I'm now stripping down to my shorts.**

**"LUCAS!" I see Courtney thrash around, her wet brown hair flying everywhere, and suddenly she goes under. The water around where she was was still, except for a couple of bubbles popping on the surface of the water**

**"Courtney!" I scream, and jump into the water. I try to swim out to where I saw her go down, trying to find her underwater. But, the water is blood red and I can't see anything but my arms out in front of me, which are pale white.**

**I grab what I think is her hand and pull it up with me. There is blood on my face from the water. I bring my hand out of the water to see what I grabbed on to. But, all I pull up is a clump of perfect brown hair. I scream.**

I woke up in my sleeping bag, sweating profusely. I sat up and looked at Brooke, who was still peacefully sleeping.

I hear someone jog up to the tent, and watched the zipper unzip. I figured it was either Peyton or Jake. It was Peyton.

"Lucas?" Peyton's voice whispered groggily, and she turned on her flashlight and shined it in the tent, right at me. "Are you ok? You were crying or something." She motioned me to come outside. I grabbed my grey sweatshirt and walked outside, zipping up the tent behind me.

Peyton was sitting on one of the logs around the fire, stoking the fire. I sat down next to her.

"So," she started, looking into my eyes. "What's wrong? It was you, wasn't it?" Peyton was fully awake, now, and looking at me with a worried expression.

I nodded and rested my elbows on my knees. "Yeah, I guess so. I just had a really bad dream." I buried my face in my hands and felt a wave of guilt flow over me, thinking that it was my fault that Courtney died. But that's ridiculous; it was just a dream. Besides, I don't know any Courtneys so Courtney isn't real.

Peyton started to rub my back. I looked up at her and we both smiled. "Wanna tell me about it?"

I sighed and nodded, telling her every single detail, even about how I saw the mysterious brown haired girl at the Rivercourt when I was with Nathan that one day and told her about how bad I felt now that I was awake. "It was the most realistic dream that I've ever had," I explained to her.

She patted my back and stood up, stretching. "I don't have much experience with dreams, but it could be a premonition, or just a really scary nightmare. But, it is weird that you saw that girl a couple days ago and now you're dreaming about saving her." I nodded.

"I hope you're right," I said as I, too, stood up and stretched.

"Just don't worry about it, Lucas. Get some sleep and see how you feel in the morning. If it's still bothering you," she said as she gave me a hug, "maybe tomorrow we can go for a walk and try to figure out what it meant."

"Thanks, Peyton." She shrugged and walked to her tent.

"No problem. Good night, again, Lucas." She walked into her tent.

"Night," I said back, and looked at my watch, and discovered that it was three in the morning. Geez, I better get back to bed. Tomorrow's going to be a looong day, especially if this guilt decides to stick around.

I walked into my tent and curled up into my sleeping bag. To my relief, Brooke was still asleep. I didn't feel like explaining why I woke up crying again.

As I drifted back to sleep-land again, my last thought was, I'll see you tomorrow, Courtney…

**Spoilers: Lucas, Brooke, Peyton and Jake meet their camping neighbors, and Lucas recognizes the teenage girl that is camping with them.**


	8. Chapter Eight: Premonitions Sometimes

AN- Sorry I haven't written any new chapters for about three months. LOL, I've been pretty busy, but now I'm not, so here's a new chapter!

Chapter Eight: Premonitions Sometimes Come True

Part ONE

JAKE P.O.V.

"Morning, Jake," Lucas said as he walked up to the campfire. _He looks like he didn't get any sleep last night_, I commented to myself. "What's wrong? Didn't sleep well last night?"

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, I had this weirdo dream and it kept me awake most of the night, just thinking about it." He was silent for a minute, looking down at his feet. "Hey, is there any girls in our grade or below us named Courtney?"

I thought for a moment. I shook my head, "No. Not that I'd know of. You'd have to ask Peyton, she'd probably know."

"Where is she, anyway? And Brooke?" Lucas looked at his watch. "I must have gotten some sleep, it's 10:45." I nodded.

"They walked to the restrooms to take a shower," I said, answering his question. I thought about what it would be like to take a shower with Peyton. I smiled.

"There are showers here?" I nodded. "Huh." Lucas stood up, stretched, and yawned. "I think I'm gonna go back into the tent and lay down for a little bit."

I stood up and said, "OK, dude. Try to get some sleep. I think we're gonna go down to the lake and swim later." He nodded, and got a strange look on his face. "What?

"Oh, nothing." He got into the tent and zipped it up.

I went back over to the dying fire and put it out with some water from my water bottle. About ten minutes later, Brooke and Peyton came back, their hair looking nice and clean.

"Hey. Where's Lucas?" Peyton looked a little worried.

"He's in the tent, trying to sleep. He had a weird dream last night, I guess, and it kept him up all night." Peyton nodded.

"Yeah, he told me about it after he woke up from it, at about three this morning." Peyton came up and gave me a hug.

"Really? Oh, do you two know any girls from our school named Courtney?" They both shook their heads.

"Why?" Brooke asked.

Peyton explained, "Well, in Lucas's dream last night, there was some girl named Courtney who was drowning at the lake here." Peyton shrugged and Brooke shivered.

"I would _hate_ to drown out here in the middle of nowhere," she said.

I laughed. "Brooke, there's a town about 5 miles each way from here!" Peyton laughed and Brooke crossed her arms.

"Duh, like I said, middle of nowhere!" She had a smile on her face.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX THREE HOURS LATER XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Are you feeling better?" I asked Lucas after he came out of the tent. He looked as though he'd gotten some rest.

"Yeah. Are we going to go swim-" Lucas asked, but was interrupted when the people who'd arrived last night with the camper showed up at our campsite.

"Hey, are you guys from around here?" a girl about our age asked us. The other people with her looked like her younger brother, and maybe her dad and mom.

Brooke nodded. "Yeah, we live in Tree Hill, about 20 minutes from here." The girl and her family nodded.

"Actually, it's more like 45 minutes away, Brooke," Peyton corrected, giving the strangers an apologetic smile.

The older man spoke up. "Yeah, we actually just moved to Tree Hill eight days ago. By the way, I'm Charlie, and this is my wife Megan." Lucas and I shook Charlie's hand as Peyton and Brooke shook Megan's hand.

"And I'm Evan, and I'm 9 years old!" Peyton crouched down and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, Evan."

I noticed the teenage girl was quiet, and she was looking at Lucas thoughtfully.

"I'm gonna be a third grader this year!" Evan said, and Charlie laughed.

"What he means, is that he's a second grader. He's actually my nephew." Charlie put his hand on Evan's head and told us, "His parents died about a month ago and so him and his sister are living with us."

Megan pushed the girl towards us. "Don't be rude, dear. Introduce yourself to this kids." Megan smiled.

The girl blushed as though she was embarrassed and said in a quiet voice. "Hi, my name's Courtney." She walked up to Lucas first to shake his hand.

I looked over at them and noticed that Lucas's face had gone white. He shook Courtney's hand turned even paler. "I-I-I'm…uh…"

"His name's Lucas," Brooke answered. "He didn't get very much sleep last night, so he's a little out of it today." She thought that that was the reason why Lucas was pale and couldn't talk.

But Brooke didn't understand. Peyton and I did. The reason why Lucas had gone pale, of course, was because the girl we'd just met, the one with brown hair, was named Courtney. _Just like the girl in Lucas's dream…_

AN- Sorry for a such a short chapter, I will try to make the next one longer!

Spoiler- The teens and their new friend go down to the lake…


	9. Chapter Eight Part 2

Chapter Eight:

Part Two of "Premonitions Sometimes Come True"

LUCAS P.O.V.

I couldn't believe my eyes. The girl from the Rivercourt, the girl from my dream, _Courtney_, was standing right in front of me. And she looked like she recognized me too. _Probably from the Rivercourt_, I thought, nodding.

Brooke came up to me just then. "What're you thinking about?" She gave me a kiss on the cheek. As she did this, I watched Courtney's face. She watched Brooke lean in for the kiss then turned her head just in time to miss Brooke's lips touch my face. Her aunt, uncle, and brother had already gone back to their campsite. Courtney stood there, looking like a little kid who wants to make friends with the big kids but doesn't know what to do or say.

Thankfully Peyton stepped up to the task of getting Courtney to feel right at home with us. "So, Courtney, wanna hang with us for a while?" Peyton put her shoulder around Courtney's shoulders and directed her towards our campsite.

Courtney looked back at her campsite with a look of a frightened puppy. I looked too, and saw her aunt and uncle were playing catch with Evan. Courtney turned around with a look that said, _It looks like they're having fun without me_, and nodded her head. "Awesome!" Peyton exclaimed, probably happy to have another female around the site.

After Peyton and Courtney walked away (Brooke followed behind them like she'd just lost her best friend to a newcomer) Jake walked up to me and pointed towards the girls. "That's-" he started.

"Courtney," I finished, nodding. I wiped imaginary sweat from my forehead and commented, "Well, ain't this just dandy. I don't think we should go to the lake, Jake. I mean, what if my premonition comes true even more so than it already has?"

Jake put his hand on my shoulder. "Come on, man, don't think that way. Maybe it's just a freaky coincidence."

"Did Peyton tell you about how I saw someone who must've been Courtney at the Rivercourt a few days ago?" Jake shook his head. I chuckled a little bit, remembering how difficult Nathan had been. "Yeah, Nathan came while I was shootin' some hoops and, boy, was he wasted. He tried to start something and just when he went to go take a swing at me, someone threw the basketball at his head, knocking him out." Jake laughed at that. "After that, I found this shoe laying on the ground, and I looked up and saw this girl with brown hair -I thought it was Haley- running away through the trees. I'm figuring it must be Courtney, _that_ Courtney over there, because she looked like she recognized me. I don't know. Maybe I'm just going crazy." I walked to the campsite and sat down at the table. Jake followed me.

I watched the scene before me. Peyton was showing Courtney some of the drawings she had done so far on this trip (one of me and Brooke sharing a s'more and one of Jake playing guitar by the campfire) over by the tents. Courtney seemed to be coming out of her shell. She looked like she was enjoying herself. She was smiling. I found myself starting to think of how beautiful that smile was. Then I remembered I had Brooke.

I looked over at her. She was sitting on a log surrounding the fire. She had a stick in her hand and was poking at the long-dead fire. Every once in a while, she'd look up at Peyton and Courtney and frown. I decided I should go over and comfort her.

"Hey, prettygirl," I said to her as I stood over her. She smiled up at me and poked me with the stick. "Hey!" I said and took the stick from her, throwing it off into the woods behind us.

"Come here, boyfriend." She grabbed my hands and I helped her up, pulling her into an embrace. She sighed happily. I smiled.

A mosquito buzzed by our ears. "EW! Kill it, Lucas!" Brooke screamed as she swatted with both hands at the bug. I couldn't help but laugh. "Where did that little bugger go?"

"Well, if you hadn't scared it away with all your," I mocked her flailing her arms around (that got a hands-on-the-hips, tilted-head look from Brooke), "The mosquito wouldn't have flew off and then I could've killed it so that it couldn't harm us later."

She huffed. "Well, I'm glad it's gone. Maybe now it won't be back." I nodded sarcastically. That got a rolling of the eyes.

"Geez, why is it so warm?" Brooke suddenly exclaimed, taking off her sweatshirt. "We should go swimming at the lake."

My eyes grew large and flashbacks from my dream were all I saw.

"Did I hear someone say 'swimming'?" I was brought back to earth from my flashbacks by a little, familiar boys voice. "Courtney, can we go swimming with them? Please?" It was Evan, Courtney's little brother.

Courtney gave us all an apologetic smile. The voice that came out of her mouth was like an angel's, soft and quiet. "Evan, we wouldn't want to bother them."

"Oh, no, it's alright!" Brooke exclaimed before anyone else could say anything. "The more the merrier! Come on, tiger, let's go! I'll race ya!" Brooke and Evan took off down the trail to the lake. Courtney followed behind them.

"Lucas, you don't have to go," Peyton said as she came over to me with a concerned look on her face. Jake followed her.

I took a shaky breath and said, "But what if my dream _does_ come true and I'm not there to save her?" I sighed and turned to Jake. "What do you think?"

Jake scratched the back of his head. "Uh..." He thought a moment, looking at Peyton for some help. She shrugged her shoulders. "You should go."

I nodded. "Right." I walked over to the tent, zipped it open and went in to change into my swimming shorts. I came back out and Peyton and Jake were already ready. I thought briefly for a moment about what Brooke had to wear into the lake. But then I remembered that she was wearing her swimming shorts already and a... white shirt.

I smiled and quickly grabbed one of my dark shirts from the tent. Peyton gave me an odd look, then she seemed to remember what shirt Brooke was wearing too. "Good idea." Jake just looked confused.

We started down the trail to the lake. It was about a four minute hike on a pretty gradual path. The view of the lake was almost breathtaking. It's like, one minute you're in a forest loaded with trees, then the next you're on a beautiful beach next to a huge lake. The lake was so big and stretched so far across and was so wide that it looked like we were at the ocean.

"Wow," Peyton and Jake said at the same time. They laughed then took off running towards the water. I hung back a little bit, watching Courtney play Marco Polo with Evan. I looked around for Brooke and saw her standing on the beach with her arms across her chest, soaking wet. I ran over to her.

"Here, I think you need this." I handed her my shirt.

"Oh thank god!" She took it and faced away from the lake, and quickly put the shirt over her head and onto her body. It was a bit large for her, but Brooke could look great in anything. "I was debating running back to the campsite. I'm glad you remembered what I was wearing." She gave me a smile and kissed me hard on the lips.

"Come on, let's go swimming!" She took my hand and we ran together into the water.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX AN HOUR LATER XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A little while later, still at the lake, it was just Brooke, Courtney and I. Peyton and Jake had long ago wandered back to the campsite and Charlie had come to get Evan for dinner. Courtney hadn't wanted to leave just yet.

"Can I stay a while longer? I'm still a little warm," she had asked her uncle with that angelic voice of hers. Charlie had nodded, then took Evan's hand and they wandered back up the path. You could hear Evan complaining about why Courtney had got to stay when he didn't.

We chatted a while about Tree Hill High (well, Brooke and I had; Courtney stood there in the water floating and nodding every once in a while about a good comment we'd made about the school she'd soon be apart of). Suddenly Brooke shivered massively and said, while walking out of the water, "I'm chilled now. I'm gonna head back. Are you coming?" She'd only looked at me when she'd asked that.

I looked at Courtney and asked her if she was ready to go. "Well, uh, not really. I mean, I just told my uncle I'd be a bit before I came back. Wouldn't want to sneak up on them..." She was nervously rambling, something she'd done once before, when I'd asked earlier to join her and Evan's game of Marco Polo. She'd been explaining the rules to me, even though I already knew them. But I wasn't going to say anything. She was cute when she was nervous.

I looked back at Brooke, wishing that Courtney had said she'd wanted to leave too. "I should stay behind and keep an eye on her. Ya know, be a lifeguard, sorta?"

Brooke frowned. "What, she's not a baby. She can take care of herself." She took a deep breath. "Whatever. I trust you." She looked at Courtney as if to see if she could trust her. "Just come up in like 10 minutes, OK?" I nodded. "OK. Have fun," she smiled fakely at Courtney but genuinely at me.

"Bye," I'd said. She walked up the path.

"So..." I started once Courtney and I were alone. I didn't know what to say though.

"So..." she copied, smiling.

I decided to ask her the question that'd been burning in my mind the last half-hour. "Uh, a couple days ago, did you see me playing basketball at the Rivercourt and throw a basketball at the other guy that was there with me?" She blushed a deep red and had a sheepish look on her face. She meekly nodded. "Huh," I said thoughtfully.

"I'm sorry about that. It just looked like he was going to punch you and I don't like fights there were a lot of them at my other school which is the reason why we moved my aunt is a worrywort-" She stopped abruptly and gave me an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I'm rambling again. I do that when I get really nervous."

"It's OK. About the rambling and about hitting Nathan in the head." I laughed. "It made him easier to deal with, you knocking him out." She laughed too.

We were quiet a few minutes. "Hey," she said shyly. "Do you maybe wanna race out to the dock floating out there?" I hadn't even noticed one. I looked out and saw one about 100 feet away, lazily floating in the water. Without even thinking once about my dream I nodded and said, "You're on."

We swam back to shore and got out. Courtney drew a line in the sand and said, "This is the starting line. Whoever gets to the dock first wins." She shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked me in the face.

"Wins what?"

"Uh..." We laughed. "A free s'more?" She shrugged her shoulders and I nodded in agreement. We laughed again.

"OK. Are you ready?" I asked once our laughter died. She nodded meekly, suddenly shy again. "OK, on your mark, get set-" She sprinted towards the water, laughing, before I could say go. "Hey! Cheater!" I laughed too and ran after her. By the time I got into the water she was already shoulder deep in water and was starting to swim.

It only took me about eight seconds to catch up to her, and three seconds of fierce swimming to pass her. I was about a good 10 feet from the dock, Courtney a good 10 seconds behind me, when I heard screaming.

"Lucas! Lucas help!" It was Courtney. I stopped swimming and looked behind me. "Help me, Lucas! I'm drowning!"

_Oh no, oh no, this can't be happening, it _can't_ be happening..._ I swam as fast as I could back to Courtney. She was within arms length when she started going under. I quickly grabbed her and lifted her out of the water. She was sputtering and coughing. She accidentally spit water in my face. After she stopped coughing she laughed and apologized for spitting at me.

"Are you OK?" I asked, as worried as I'd ever been in my life.

She coughed a few more times but nodded. "Yeah. Thank you, Lucas. You saved my life." _This time I did,_ I thought about how I didn't save her in my dream.

Her lips were starting to turn blue and her teeth were chattering. "Come on, let's get you out of the water and into some dry clothes. I'll have Jake start a fire to warm you up."

I swam back to the shore holding onto her. I let her go once I was sure she could touch the bottom. We walked out of the water. "Um. I'd actually like to go back to my campsite. I don't want to embarrass myself in front of your friends. Believe me, almost drowning is _really_ embarrassing."

I nodded. "Sure. I think your campsite has a path down to the lake too. We'll get to your site that way."

We walked along the beach until we found the path that obviously lead to her campsite. We could see her aunt cooking over the fire. The forest wasn't so loaded with trees here.

"Uh, I can get there by myself," she said once I started following her up the path.

I stopped dead in my tracks and was taken aback by her sudden bravery. "OK. Will I see you again?"

She laughed. "Of course. I'm sure Evan will want to come bug you guys tomorrow. And then I'll have to follow him to make sure he doesn't bug you guys _too_ much." We laughed.

"OK then. Well, have a nice night."

"You too, Lucas." I started to walk away. "Lucas." Courtney waved me back. I came back and she gave me a long hug. "Thanks again." As we pulled away she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome."

"Uh, Brooke won't be mad that I did that, will she?"

"What? That you almost drowned?" I asked, confused.

She smirked. "No, that I kissed you."

"Oh, no, it was a harmless kiss. It didn't mean anything, right?" She nodded. But I could tell that she'd felt something too, some kind of connection when her lips had touched my skin. But I couldn't think about that. I had Brooke.

I cleared my throat. "I should go now."

I jogged quickly away. I heard her angelic voice call a "goodbye" behind me.

I was soon back at my campsite. Jake and Peyton gave me a curious look and Brooke came over to me and hugged me hard. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, Brooke," I said as I closed my eyes and hugged her back hard.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX LATER THAT NIGHT XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was about 11:30pm, the sun had gone down long ago and the moon had been awake for a while. Brooke was in the tent, sleeping. Jake and Peyton had gone on a walk about 15 minutes ago. I was sitting in front of the fire, waiting for it to go out.

I heard Jake's voice get closer to the campsite. Peyton was laughing.

"Hey, Luke," Peyton said as she and Jake took a seat on the other log around the fire. I gave a short wave.

"So what happened at the lake? I thought I heard screaming but Jake said that it'd been a crow."

I was quiet as I thought about what to tell them. Instead of telling the truth, I figured it'd be better to just tell a little white lie. "Oh, nothing much. Courtney and I talked about her old school. No one drowned." I smiled bitterly.

Well, I was right about no one drowning. I mean, I did afterall save Courtney this time.

THE END!


End file.
